Video capturing some of the final moments in the life of Irvo Otieno — the Virginia man whose death led to murder charges against seven deputies — shows several officers and medical staff appearing to pile on top of the 28-year-old Black man before he eventually stops moving.
The surveillance video of the March 6 incident at Virginia’s Central State Hospital shows several officers dragging Otieno, who appears to be handcuffed and shackled at the ankles, into an admissions room, initially moving him toward a table before eventually laying him down and restraining him on the ground.
At one point, as many as 10 sheriff’s deputies and medical staff at the hospital can be seen crowded around Otieno on the floor as several others stand nearby. The scene is so crowded that Otieno can hardly be seen at that point and it is unclear what exactly is happening or how deputies and medical workers are engaging with him.
Otieno was restrained for around 11 minutes before he could be seen not moving, according to The Washington Post, which obtained video of the altercation and published nine minutes of that footage. NBC News was not immediately able to obtain the video, which has no sound, and it is unclear how it was edited.
Minutes after deputies release Otieno’s limp body at around 4:40 p.m., workers can be seen applying chest compressions and a defibrillator machine to his upper body before a medical technician drapes a white sheet over him at 5:48 p.m., according to timestamps accompanying the footage published by the Post.
It is unclear what was said during the encounter since the video has no audio. Prosecutors have said the state police investigators were told Otieno had become combative during admission.
The video was due to be released Tuesday, but attorneys for two of the defendants had sought to block its publication, arguing it could influence the pool of potential jurors and interfere with defendants receiving a fair trial.
After Otieno’s family and their…
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